2006 24 Hours of Le Mans

74th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race 2005 2006 2007 thumbnail|right|Circuit de la Sarthe track The 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 74th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place over 17–18 June 2006. The winners of the race were Frank Biela, Marco Werner, and Emanuele Pirro, driving the Audi R10 TDI. For the first time in the history of the race, the winner was a diesel-powered car. Pre-race Prior to this race the ACO redeveloped the area around the Dunlop Curve and Dunlop Chicane, moving the Dunlop Curve in tighter to create more run-off area, while also turning the Dunlop Chicane into a larger set of turns. As part of the development, a new extended pit lane exit was created for motorcycles running the Bugatti Circuit. This second pit exit re-enters the track just beyond the Dunlop Chicane and before the Dunlop Bridge. Before the official test days, the FIA requested that the sportscars should also use this new pit lane, and mandated a 60 km/h speed limit for the entire 450m length, instead of using the normal pit exit in the Dunlop Curve as planned. This was originally used for the Le Mans test days, but due to complaints from the teams, the ACO decided to return to the old pit lane exit for the race. Qualifying In the LMP1 category, during Wednesday's wet-weather qualifying Pescarolo C60 took the top two spots. Then, a day later, during dry weather conditions the new Audi R10 TDIs overtook the Pescarolos to claim the top two positions. In LMP2, the Ray Mallock Ltd. Lola ran two seconds quicker than the new Intersport Lola. In LMGT1, the Aston Martin factory squad swept the front row, with the #64 Corvette right behind them. In GT2, the French IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche took the quickest time; however, Luca Riccitelli took the car off at Nord du Karting at the end of the session, injuring his ankle and badly damaging the chassis of the car. In a unique move, the ACO went against its own rules and granted permission for the team to replace the chassis with a brand new car. The car was still forced to start at the back of the grid. The Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 thus started at the front for the GT2 class. Qualifying times Class leaders and the fastest lap time on each day are in bold. Pos No. Team Car Class Day 1 Day 2 Behind 1 7 DEU Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI LMP1 4:17.189 3:30.466 Leader 2 8 DEU Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI LMP1 4:17.676 3:30.584 +0.118 3 16 FRA Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 4:13.832 3:32.584 +2.118 4 17 FRA Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 4:14.447 3:32.990 +2.524 5 13 FRA Courage Compétition Courage LC70-Mugen LMP1 4:25.582 3:34.120 +3.654 6 14 NLD Racing for Holland Dome S101Hb-Judd LMP1 4:22.873 3:34.864 +4.398 7 9 GBR Creation Autosportif Creation CA06/H-Judd LMP1 4:22.021 3:36.459 +5.993 8 2 GBR Zytek Engineering Zytek 06S LMP1 4:27.754 3:39.252 +8.786 9 5 CHE Swiss Spirit Courage LC70-Judd LMP1 4:23.727 3:40.182 +9.716 10 19 GBR Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport Lola B06/10-AER LMP1 4:37.362 3:40.467 +10.001 11 12 FRA Courage Compétition Courage LC70-Mugen LMP1 4:35.943 3:40.722 +10.256 12 25 GBR Ray Mallock Ltd. MG-Lola EX264-AER LMP2 4:34.940 3:41.555 +11.089 13 33 USA Intersport Racing Lola B05/40-AER LMP2 4:34.160 3:43.869 +13.403 14 22 GBR Rollcentre Racing Radical SR9-Judd LMP2 4:43.803 3:44.324 +13.858 15 39 GBR Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport Lola B05/40-AER LMP2 4:37.362 3:45.732 +15.068 16 32 FRA Barazi-Epsilon Courage C65-AER LMP2 4:27.357 3:47.467 +17.001 17 37 FRA Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65-Mecachrome LMP2 4:45.086 3:48.846 +18.380 18 27 USA Miracle Motorsports Courage C65-AER LMP2 4:56.168 3:50.826 +20.360 19 6 GBR Lister Storm Racing Lister Storm LMP Hybrid-Chevrolet LMP1 4:31.565 3:50.940 +20.476 20 007 GBR Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:31.179 3:52.015 +21.559 21 009 GBR Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:32.053 3:52.561 +22.095 22 64 USA Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 4:51.557 3:53.100 +22.534 23 20 FRA Pir Competition Pilbeam MP93-Judd LMP2 4:25.398 3:53.285 +22.819 24 69 ITA BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:35.531 3:53.611 +23.145 25 67 RUS Convers MenX Team Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:33.561 3:53.781 +23.315 26 63 USA Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 4:54.941 3:53.993 +23.327 27 66 USA ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7-R GT1 4:35.016 3:54.476 +24.010 28 72 FRA Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C5-R GT1 4:42.545 3:55.629 +25.163 29 24 USA Binnie Motorsports Lola B05/42-Zytek LMP2 4:51.872 3:56.123 +25.657 30 35 BEL G-Force Racing Courage C65-Judd LMP2 4:48.714 3:56.452 +25.986 31 36 FRA Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65-Mecachrome LMP2 4:50.408 3:56.460 +25.994 32 62 GBR Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:35.789 3:57.776 +27.310 33 61 GBR Cirtek Motorsport Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:40.097 3:59.822 +29.356 34 53 JPN JLOC Isao Noritake Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT GT1 4:58.656 4:00.287 +29.821 35 30 FRA Gerald Welter WR LMP04-Peugeot LMP2 5:15.480 4:00.775 +30.309 36 50 FRA Larbre Compétition Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:47.924 4:01.920 +31.454 37 76 FRA IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:41.623 4:03.438 +32.972 38 87 GBR Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:52.423 4:04.596 +34.130 39 83 DEU Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:53.695 4:04.897 +34.431 40 80 USA Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:46.888 4:05.266 +34.800 41 90 USA Krohn Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:39.912 4:05.700 +35.234 42 85 NLD Spyker Squadron BV Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R-Audi GT2 4:48.691 4:06.299 +35.833 43 77 CAN Multimatic Team Panoz Panoz Esperante GT-LM-Ford GT2 4:55.638 4:06.642 +36.176 44 86 NLD Spyker Squadron BV Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R-Audi GT2 4:45.916 4:07.939 +37.473 45 89 GBR Sebah Automotive Ltd. Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:54.946 4:08.688 +38.222 46 81 GBR Team LNT Panoz Esperante GT-LM-Ford GT2 4:50.424 4:12.043 +41.577 47 93 JPN Team Taisan Advan Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:05.305 4:14.477 +44.011 48 73 BEL Ice Pol Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:57.096 4:16.246 +45.780 49 91 JPN T2M Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:06.716 4:17.342 +46.876 50 98 FRA Noël del Bello Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:07.105 4:23.547 +53.081 Race thumb|The No. 8 Audi R10 TDI at Goodwood Festival of Speed This race marked the first Le Mans win for a diesel engined sports car, the Audi R10 TDI, and the second time that a diesel-powered sports car won a major international motorsports event, following the Audi R10 TDI's win at the 2006 12 Hours of Sebring. This was, however, not the first time a diesel-powered racing car had won an international racing event; back in 1998, BMW became the first marque to enter a diesel-powered race winner as they won the Nürburgring 24 Hours with their 320d touring car. This race also marked the first time since 1991 that Porsche (or a Porsche-powered prototype) did not win a single class in Le Mans. A Panoz Esperante was successful in upsetting the contingent of Porsches in the GT2 class, the only class that did feature Porsche entries. Corvette Racing's 355-lap pace in their GT1 class win became the record for a homologated GT racer. Official results Class winners are marked in bold. Cars not completing 70% of the winner's distance are listed as Not Classified (NC). Pos ClassPos. Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps Engine 1 1 LMP1 8 DEU Audi Sport Team Joest DEU Frank BielaDEU Marco WernerITA Emanuele Pirro Audi R10 TDI Michelin 380 Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12(Diesel) 2 2 LMP1 17 FRA Pescarolo Sport FRA Sébastien LoebFRA Éric HélaryFRA Franck Montagny Pescarolo C60 Hybrid Michelin 376 Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10 3 3 LMP1 7 DEU Audi Sport Team Joest ITA Rinaldo CapelloDNK Tom KristensenGBR Allan McNish Audi R10 TDI Michelin 367 Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12(Diesel) 4 1 GT1 64 USA Corvette Racing GBR Oliver GavinMCO Olivier BerettaDNK Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Michelin 355 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8 5 4 LMP1 16 FRA Pescarolo Sport FRA Emmanuel CollardFRA Érik ComasFRA Nicolas Minassian Pescarolo C60 Hybrid Michelin 352 Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10 6 2 GT1 007 GBR Aston Martin Racing CZE Tomáš EngeGBR Darren TurnerITA Andrea Piccini Aston Martin DBR9 Michelin 350 Aston Martin 6.0L V12 7 3 GT1 72 FRA Luc Alphand Aventures FRA Luc AlphandFRA Patrice GoueslardFRA Jérôme Policand Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Michelin 346 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8 8 1 LMP2 25 GBR Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML) GBR Mike NewtonBRA Thomas ErdosGBR Andy Wallace MG-Lola EX264 Michelin 343 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4 9 4 GT1 62 RUS Russian Age RacingGBR Team Modena ESP Antonio GarcíaAUS David BrabhamBRA Nelson Piquet Jr. Aston Martin DBR9 Michelin 343 Aston Martin 6.0L V12 10 5 GT1 009 GBR Aston Martin Racing PRT Pedro LamyFRA Stéphane SarrazinMCO Stéphane Ortelli Aston Martin DBR9 Michelin 342 Aston Martin 6.0L V12 11 6 GT1 66 USA ACEMCO Motorsports GBR Johnny MowlemUSA Terry Borcheller BRA Christian Fittipaldi Saleen S7-R Michelin 337 Ford 7.0L V8 12 7 GT1 63 USA Corvette Racing CAN Ron FellowsUSA Johnny O'ConnellITA Max Papis Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Michelin 327 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8 13 2 LMP2 24 USA Binnie Motorsports USA William BinnieJPN Yojiro TeradaGBR Allen Timpany Lola B05/42 Michelin 326 Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8 14 3 LMP2 27 USA Miracle Motorsports USA Andy LallyUSA John MacalusoGBR Ian James Courage C65 Kumho 324 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4 15 1 GT2 81 GBR Team LNT GBR Lawrence TomlinsonGBR Tom Kimber-SmithGBR Richard Dean Panoz Esperante GT-LM Pirelli 321 Ford (Élan) 5.0L V8 16 2 GT2 83 DEU Seikel MotorsportDEU Farnbacher Racing DNK Lars-Erik NielsenDEU Pierre EhretDEU Dominik Farnbacher Porsche 911 GT3-RS Yokohama 320 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 17 3 GT2 87 GBR Scuderia Ecosse GBR Andrew KirkaldyCAN Chris NiarchosGBR Tim Mullen Ferrari F430 GT2 Michelin 311 Ferrari F136 4.0L V8 18 4 GT2 80 USA Flying Lizard Motorsports USA Johannes van OverbeekUSA Patrick LongUSA Seth Neiman Porsche 911 GT3-RSR Michelin 309 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 19 4 LMP2 33 USA Intersport Racing USA Clint FieldUSA Liz HallidayUSA Duncan Dayton Lola B05/40 Goodyear 297 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4 20 5 LMP2 22 GBR Rollcentre Racing GBR Martin ShortPRT João BarbosaGBR Stuart Moseley Radical SR9 Dunlop 294 Judd XV675 3.4L V8 21 6 LMP2 32 FRA Barazi-Epsilon DNK Juan BaraziNLD Michael VergersNZL Neil Cunningham Courage C65 Michelin 294 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4 22 5 GT2 93 JPN Team Taisan Advan JPN Kazuyuki NishizawaJPN Shinichi YamajiUSA Philip Collin Porsche 911 GT3-RS Yokohama 291 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 23 6 GT2 73 BEL Gordon Racing TeamBEL Ice Pol Racing Team BEL Yves-Emmanuel LambertBEL Christian LefortFRA Romain Iannetta Porsche 911 GT3-RSR Dunlop 282 Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 24 5 LMP1 2 GBR Zytek EngineeringDNK Team Essex Invest DNK John NielsenDNK Casper ElgaardDNK Philip Andersen Zytek 06S Michelin 269 Zytek ZB408 4.0L V8 25 6 LMP1 19 GBR Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport GBR Bob BerridgeGBR Gareth EvansGBR Peter Owen Lola B06/10 Dunlop 267 AER P32T 3.6L Turbo V8 26NC 7 LMP2 20 FRA Pir Competition FRA Marc RostanGBR Simon PullanUSA Chris MacAllister Pilbeam MP93 Michelin 244 Judd XV675 3.4L V8 27NCThe #53 JLOC Isao Noritake entry failed to complete the last lap of the race and was thus not classified as a finisher in the final race results. 8 GT1 53 JPN JLOC Isao Noritake ITA Marco ApicellaJPN Koji YamanishiJPN Yasutaka Hinoi Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT Pirelli 283 Lamborghini L535 6.0L V12 28DNF 7 GT2 89 GBR Sebah Automotive Ltd. DEU Christian RiedFRA Xavier PompidouDNK Thorkild Thyrring Porsche 911 GT3-RSR Dunlop 256 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 29DNF 7 LMP1 9 GBR Creation Autosportif Ltd. CHE Felipe OrtizITA Giuseppe GabbianiGBR Jamie Campbell-Walter Creation CA06/H Michelin 240 Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10 30DNF 9 GT1 50 FRA Larbre Compétition FRA Patrick BornhauserFRA Jean-Luc BlanchemainCHE Gabriele Gardel Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello Michelin 222 Ferrari F133 5.9L V12 31DNF 8 GT2 76 FRA IMSA Performance Matmut FRA Raymond NaracITA Luca RiccitelliFRA Romain Dumas Porsche 911 GT3-RSR Michelin 211 Porsche 3.8L Flat-6 32DNF 9 GT2 86 NLD Spyker Squadron b.v. NLD Jeroen BleekemolenNLD Mike Hezemans GBR Jonny Kane Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R Michelin 202 Audi 3.8L V8 33DNF 10 GT1 67 RUS Convers MenX Team RUS Alexey VasilyevCZE Robert PerglNLD Peter Kox Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello Michelin 196 Ferrari F133 5.9L V12 34DNF 10 GT2 91 JPN T2M Motorsport JPN Yutaka YamagishiFRA Jean-René de FournouxSVK Miro Konôpka Porsche 911 GT3-RS Dunlop 196 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 35DNF 8 LMP2 39 GBR Chamberlain-Synergy MotorsportPRT ASM Team Racing for Portugal PRT Miguel AmaralGBR Warren HughesESP Miguel Ángel de Castro Lola B05/40 Dunlop 196 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4 36DNF 8 LMP1 6 GBR Lister Storm Racing GBR Gavin PickeringDNK Nicolas KiesaDNK Jens Møller Lister Storm LMP Hybrid Dunlop 192 Chevrolet LS1 6.0L V8 37DNF 9 LMP1 14 NLD Racing for Holland NLD Jan LammersMYS Alex YoongSWE Stefan Johansson Dome S101Hb Dunlop 182 Judd GV5 5.0L V10 38DNF 10 LMP1 12 FRA Courage Compétition GBR Sam HancockCHE Alexander FreiGBR Gregor Fisken Courage LC70 Yokohama 171 Mugen MF458S 4.5L V8 39DNF 11 GT2 90 USA White Lightning RacingUSA Krohn Racing DEU Jörg BergmeisterSWE Niclas JönssonUSA Tracy Krohn Porsche 911 GT3-RSR Michelin 148 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 40DNF 9 LMP2 30 FRA Gerard Welter FRA Patrice RousselFRA Frédéric HauchardFRA Julien Briché WR LMP04 Pirelli 134 Peugeot 2.0L Turbo I4 41DNF 11 LMP1 5 CHE Swiss Spirit CHE Harold PrimatCHE Marcel FässlerAUT Philipp Peter Courage LC70 Michelin 132 Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10 42DNF 11 GT1 61 RUS Russian Age RacingGBR Cirtek Motorsport GBR Tim SugdenGBR Nigel SmithGBR Christian Vann Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello Michelin 124 Ferrari F133 5.9L V12 43DNF 12 GT2 98 FRA Noël del Bello Racing GBR Adam SharpeFRA Patrick BourdaisBEL Tom Cloet Porsche 911 GT3-RSR Michelin 115 Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 44DNF 10 LMP2 36 FRA Paul Belmondo Racing FRA Claude-Yves GosselinSAU Karim A. OjjehFRA Pierre Ragues Courage C65 Michelin 84 Ford (Mecachrome) 3.4L V8 45DNF 11 LMP2 37 FRA Paul Belmondo Racing FRA Jean-Bernard BouvetFRA Didier AndréFRA Yann Clairay Courage C65 Michelin 48 Ford (Mecachrome) 3.4L V8 46DNF 12 LMP2 35 BEL G-Force Racing BEL Franck HahnFRA Jean-François LerochGBR Ed Morris Courage C65 Dunlop 47 Judd XV675 3.4L V8 47DNF 13 GT2 85 NLD Spyker Squadron b.v. NLD Donny CrevelsGBR Peter DumbreckNLD Tom Coronel Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R Michelin 40 Audi 3.8L V8 48DNF 12 LMP1 13 FRA Courage Compétition JPN Shinji NakanoFRA Jean-Marc Gounon JPN Haruki Kurosawa Courage LC70 Yokohama 35 Mugen MF458S 4.5L V8 49DNF 14 GT2 77 CAN Multimatic Motorsport Team Panoz USA Gunnar JeannetteCAN Scott MaxwellUSA Tommy Milner Panoz Esperante GT-LM Pirelli 34 Ford (Élan) 5.0L V8 50DNF 12 GT1 69 ITA BMS Scuderia Italia ITA Fabrizio GollinITA Fabio BabiniITA Christian Pescatori Aston Martin DBR9 Pirelli 3 Aston Martin 6.0L V12 Statistics Fastest Lap - #7 Audi Sport Team Joest - 3:31.211 Distance - 5187.0 km Average Speed - 215.409 km/h Highest trap speed - #14 Racing for Holland - 331 km/h (warm-up), #9 Creation Autosportif - 332 km/h (qualifying) Notes & references Le Mans Category:24 Hours of Le Mans races 24 Hours of Le Mans Le Mans, 24 Hours of